1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector lock structure for a pair of female and male connectors which can be fitted together so that connection terminals in one of the two connectors are electrically connected respectively to the connection terminals in the other connector.
2. Related Art
There is shown one conventional connector lock structure in which engagement projections are formed on a wire harness-side male connector housing, and passage grooves for the passage of the engagement projections of the male connector housing therethrough are formed in a hood portion of an equipment-side (board-side) female connector housing relative to which the male connector housing can be inserted and withdrawn, and a slide member can be moved in a direction perpendicular to a connector inserting/withdrawing direction (that is, a connector inserting direction and a connector withdrawing direction) by pressing an operating portion, and the slide member has elastic retaining projections which can be engaged with the engagement projections at a position disposed rearwardly of the passage grooves in the connector inserting direction.
In such a connector lock structure, the slide member is operated or pressed, and at the time when the female and male connector housings are fitted together, the retaining projections of a lock arm are engaged respectively with the engagement projections of the male connector housing, thereby achieving a locked condition. By moving the slide member in a direction opposite to the locking direction by an amount corresponding to a width of one engagement projection, the locked condition is canceled.
However, in the connector lock structure disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-11-040266, not only when the male connector housing is to be inserted into the female connector housing but also when the former is to be withdrawn from the latter, it is necessary to press the slide member in the direction perpendicular to the connector inserting/withdrawing direction so as to effect the locking operation and the unlocking operation. In recent years, the slide member has inevitably been formed into a small size because of a demand for a compact design of the connector, and therefore it has been difficult to secure the satisfactory operability of the slide member. Particularly, the operation (in which simultaneously when moving the male connector housing in the connector inserting/withdrawing direction, the slide member is moved independently in the direction perpendicular to the connector inserting/withdrawing direction) makes the pressing operation of the slide member complicated, and this has been a cause for a hindrance to the positive locking and unlocking operations.